Ben Pakulski’s exclusive quads workout

Ben Pakulski is a IFBB Pro bodybuilder and creator of the Mi40 Xtreme training system and the Mi40 Nation website. He is based in Tampa, Florida.

How it works
There are two workouts, workout A and workout B, and you simply alternate them every five days. They work together by directly overloading different parts of the muscles in each session, so you always have enough time to recover while sufficiently hitting the muscles hard enough to ensure maximum hypertrophy.

Before you rush straight to the gym to put the first workout into action, there’s a few things you need to bear in mind to give yourself the best chances of incredible results.

• Always initiate the movement with the target muscle. In most cases this will be the quads, apart from the seated ham curls, which will be hamstrings. Contract the muscle before commencing movement to eliminate inertia and momentum.

• Continuous tension on the target muscle wins every time. Do your best to not stop or pause during a set – ever. Not at the top, or the bottom. That is called resting. Continuous controlled motion is the key to hypertrophy

• The tempo for each rep is 4010 and it’s vital you stick to this speed to keep the time your muscles are under tension within the ideal period to elicit hypertrophy. I can’t emphasise this enough: being in control of each rep is key.

• Rest periods are as follows: if you’re doing eight or less reps rest two minutes between sets; if it’s eight to 12 reps, rest for 60 seconds; if it’s more than 12 reps, rest for 40 seconds.

Final advice
You’ll notice that the first workout starts with sets of back squats followed by a superset of back squats and dumbbell squats. This isn’t a mistake. You want your legs to grow, right? Both workouts also include what I call a Neurological Overload Set, or NOS. It is a type of drop set that is designed to overload the muscle and create the optimal hormonal environment for growth.

A NOS follows the final set of that exercise. After completing the prescribed number of reps, immediately drop the weight by 20% and complete an additional eight reps. Then drop the weight again by 20% and do another eight reps. Repeat this pattern once more with a 20% drop for eight reps, completing the NOS.

This process will take your muscle to complete physical exhaustion. The lactic acid will be uncomfortable but find comfort in knowing that more lactic acid is correlated with more growth hormone, bigger muscles and a leaner, harder physique.

* Finish with a NOS set.** Start the first set with 20 reps, then for each subsequent set gradually increase the weight until you can only manage around six reps for two sets. Then finish with one NOS set.

* Finish with a NOS set.** Start the first set with 20 reps, then for each subsequent set gradually increase the weight until you can only manage around six reps for two sets. Then finish with one NOS set.